


The Applejack Problem

by Madeline69



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Drabble, Drug Use, LSD, Metafiction, Other, Rainbow Dash Does LSD and Dies, Recreational Drug Use, Sad Ending, Short, Well - Freeform, but like, not 'dark', rainbow dash is an anarchist who does lsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 13:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21075743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madeline69/pseuds/Madeline69
Summary: Rainbow Dash Does LSD and ies.





	The Applejack Problem

Rainbow Dash stood, her forehooves raised in front of her eyes and her Wonderbolts jumpsuit knotted around her waist, in the center of Fluttershy’s bedroom. She had been fired a month earlier for posting antinationalist memes on her hoofer account, and while she had given up on Equestrian exceptionalism, its aesthetics were still pretty fucking cool, which is why she dressed like a propagandist’s wet dream and listened to Free Bird every time she dropped acid.

Something was different about this time, though. Despite her usual energy, Dash was the kind of tripper to spend her peak on the floor, just overanalyzing the shit out of whatever landed in front of her eyes when she collapsed.

This time, she had energy. Enough energy to stand, enough energy to bring her mind up into the choppy current of Skynyrd's intense guitar solo.

And she knew it wasn't hers. It didn't belong in this universe. It wasn't like music like that didn't exist, but this music didn't.

There was no Lynyrd Skynyrd.

There was a somewhere else. A place above her own, above the clouds, above the universe, like she was a flat drawing on a piece of paper. The felt her perception collapse even further as the drawing turned into words on a moving picture frame, collapsed even further as that lit picture frame turned into a series of coloured dots.

"Fluttershy..." She spoke as soon as she was able. "Our, main group of friends… How many of us are there?"

Six was the correct number, clearly. She if she shut her eyes - whatever meaning that had when she was this high - she could clearly picture six outlines: sky blue, cornflower yellow, a lavender purple, crystal white, bright pink, and... orange.

Orange?

Who was orange?

Did Rainbow Dash have an orange friend?

"Was there... how many friends do we have, Fluttershy?"

“Three, besides you and me.” Fluttershy had gotten used to conspiracy Dash. Although she usually didn’t stay standing, she usually did come up with some harebrained theory that survived far too long after she sobered up.

“No, no like, an orange one.”

“Scootaloo.”

“Scootaloo isn’t orange.”

“Yes she is, Dash.” Rainbow struggled to conjure the image of the little pony in her mind. Was Scootaloo orange? It was hard to say.

“Okay, well, whatever. Like a different orange one. I want to say, like… a farmer.” Dash struggled not to ramp up the intensity as she felt herself falling. She tried to force herself back into the place above, fear and frustration rising in her throat as she failed to do so. Her eyes finally settled back on reality, finally noticing Fluttershy: utterly terrified and crumpled into the couch.

“I miss when this playlist had Bridge instead.” She muttered, just loud enough to be heard. Acid could get intense with Dash. Fluttershy silently told herself that this would be the last time the two did it together as she, without saying goodbye, dashed out.

* * *

“Rarity, is-”

“Nice seeing you in the sun, dearest,” Rarity teased as she turned to face Rainbow Dash. Her flirty expression fell as she took in the open-mouthed anxiety on the colourful pony’s face. “Oh my, are you-”

“Is Sweetie Belle here?”

“I really don’t think you should see her like this.” Rarity was suddenly firm, her hooves stable against the hard-wood floor. Dash blinked, trying to recalibrate her self image: she was dishevelled, half-dressed, and very clearly high. The idea to go interrogate a child was not her brightest.

“Can you- can you ask her something for me?”

“Okay...” Rarity agreed, more satisfied with this solution.

“Just- does her friend Applebloom have a sibling?”

Rarity nodded, trotting up the stairs to her little sister’s bedroom and leaving Dash alone. It was the first moment she had to herself since the flight over, and she spent most of that struggling to fly straight and avoid trees. Now she was alone, and her mind was quiet.

Her eyes landed first on the ordered rack of kitchen knives, following each from handle to tip as her eyes made a sharpening sound in her ears.

They darted to the kitchen sink from there, a trail of bugs making their way from the drain to one corner of the grout, seemingly just to die where so many of them had died before.

She began to wander, found herself in Rarity’s bedroom without the memory of actually getting there, became fascinated with the white pony’s hairbrush, found it difficult not to just glare at it.

“Dash, darling?” She nearly screamed as Rarity appeared behind her.

“Sorry, high.” She apologized, struggling to shuffle her wings back into position on her back.

“That’s quite alright.” Rarity had gotten used to Rainbow’s psychedelic benders, but was more of a mushroom girl herself. “Applebloom is over for a play-date. She says she does have a sibling-”

“Wh- really?” Dash could feel her pupils go wide with excitement.

“Y-yes Dash… Big Macintosh. I believe you two have met before.” Rainbow’s excitement fell as quickly as it had risen.

“Isn’t there- Isn’t there like, another Apple?” She practically begged. “Like, Apple- Apple Sauce? Apple Juice? Apple J- Apple Jack! Isn’t there an Applejack?”

“No, dear. I don’t believe there is.”

“Is that Rainbow Dash?” The familiar voice of her biggest fan came through the open door. Rainbow panicked as she once again evaluated her appearance. Scootaloo was not yet old enough to aspire to LSD. When she was, Rainbow fully intended to create a comfortable and guiding experience, but right now was not the time.

She dove out of Rarity’s window as the pink and orange filly trotted cheerfully into the bedroom. Dash pressed herself against the wall, careful to make sure she was invisible over the sill.

“No, darling it was just- I was just practicing my impression.”

“Oh! Wow, you’re really good! You should join the fan club.” Scootaloo seemed satisfied with this, spinning and returning to the Crusader’s meeting. Dash jumped again as Rarity poked her head out, staring straight down at her.

“You need to sober up. Go talk to Twilight.”

“C-can I come back tonight?”

“Of course, my love. Just promise me you won’t buy from this seller again.”

“I promise.”

* * *

“Twilight!!!” It had started to rain as Dash flew from Rarity’s to the library. She stood, her mane matted against her forehead as she rapped away at the door. Twilight took altogether too long to answer, but she liked an afternoon nap.

“Rainbow! Hi! You’re very high!” She smiled in earnest, fascinated enough with psychedelics to be excited when others took them, but not to actually take them herself. She invited her in graciously, just barely hurt when Rainbow declined to lie down on the couch.

“I need to sober up.”

“W-why?” Twilight stammered, seemingly trodden on.

“I keep thinking we used to have like, another friend, and it’s freaking me out.”

“Oh! We did! Her name was Applejack. But here, I’m actually not the best at explaining it.” The purple pony’s horn glowed as she traced the outline of a door through the air, leaving behind a white line that morphed into a solid when the shape was completed. It seemed to wave in the invisible wind, gossamer-thin and just barely too thick to see through.

Rainbow Dash blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light as she crossed the shimmering threshold. Ahead of her was a room, somewhere between real and unreal, with pure white walls and a heavy dark-oak desk in the center of it. Behind the desk sat a pony, her shimmering white coat just a few shades darker than the bright walls. She smiled gently and warmly at Rainbow, beckoning her further into the room.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash,” she started, her voice ringing through the room. “You have been very nosey lately, haven’t you?”

Dash struggled to keep upright as she put one hoof in front of the other, thankful for the chair that rose when she was close enough to speak comfortably.

“Where am I?” She asked, her voice suddenly ragged and tired.

“That isn’t a question you would understand the answer to, suffice it to say you are ‘above’, as you understood it when you began this journey. I...” the gray pony anticipated Dash’s next question, “...am the architect. I had hoped Twilight would not allow you to get this far, but then again, that pony has always been just a tad too honest.”

Honest… honest… that word triggered something in Dash, sent a wave of memories flooding back so fast they all stuck at the entrance to her mind, each failing to enter as they all struggled to force themselves in.

“Who is Applejack?” She asked, struggling to keep her emotions in check.

“Hm.” The architect’s eyes fell. “I don’t think I can take this knowledge back Rainbow. It will ruin your life, and I would feel wrong if I didn’t give you the opportunity to-”

“Tell me.”

“Of course.” The architect spoke as though she already knew. She took a deep breath as a filing cabinet materialized next to her, offering up a single sheet of paper. She cleared her throat before reading:

“Applejack is a female Earth pony and one of the main characters of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She lives and works at Sweet Apple Acres with her grandmother Granny Smith, her older brother Big McIntosh, her younger sister Apple Bloom, and her dog Winona. She represents the element of honesty… that’s a direct quote from the wiki.”

“Wh-”

“Yes, not very enlightening, but she did exist.” And with that, the floodgates were open. It was not some dramatic and painful reordering of memories, just a moment to fill in the spots of blank orange that had been forming in her memories, and Applejack was there.

Of course, Applejack. How could you forget, Rainbow Dash? The pranks, the competitions, spending the evenings in the barn after the first day of cider season, co-founder of the Ponyville workers’ movement. Applejack was one of her closest friends, certainly closer than Pinkie or Twilight had ever been.

“Where is she now?” Rainbow asked once she was finished sorting through her memories.

“She isn’t. You see, she-” The architect stopped herself. “I really do mean it when I say this knowledge will ruin your life, Rainbow. I want to give you one last chance to back out.”

“Where. Is. She.” Dash left no room for negotiation in her voice.

“She, as well as the rest of the ‘mane six’, exist in a cartoon show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In fact, this iteration of you exists in a speculative piece of fan-fiction about your future. It became apparent to the author of this work that Applejack was not going to continue to exist thanks to a leaked series of documents about the original cartoon. With me so far?”

Rainbow sat in silence.

“I will continue. The author of this work chose to have you explore your feelings on her disappearance as a way of exploring her own feelings on capitalism’s tendency to ‘disappear’ people when they are no longer useful or palatable to a mainstream audience.” The architect stopped, sipping a cup of tea. Rainbow searched her memory, looking for any shred of unpalatability in the image of her friend, scrutinized her own past for anything that might get her proverbially ‘kicked off the show’.

“Why?” She asked, suddenly finding it very hard to put her voice anywhere above a whisper, intimidated by the very notion of her actions being judged against the value of her existence.

“Oh, now this is the sad part.” The gray pony gave a legitimate look of sorrow. “She didn’t do anything wrong, she just didn’t sell enough toys. It’s despicable, really. Her only crime was not being enough people’s favourite. Even if you search your heart now, you’d struggle to put her at number 1. Of course, you did always struggle to pick just one.”

Toys.

Toys.

That was what this was all about.

Rainbow Dash ignored the very light slut-shaming as her mind was flung from the past to the future. She thought of every morning from now on, waking up and making every moment interesting, never resting in case the audience lost interest. She wondered what it felt like to be Applejack right now, wondered what the complete absence of anything resembling the self would look like, wondered if she felt alone.

She began to panic, her gums bleeding as she ground her teeth. “You’re lying.”

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself.”

“This is some kind of sick joke.” She spun for the door, finding it gone.

“I’m not going to let you out there if you have any intention of hurting Twilight.”

“This isn’t fucking funny Twilight, let me out!” Dash screamed at the ceiling.

“Calm down. She has lived with this knowledge her whole life, soon you will find a way to too.”

“No.” Rainbow spun again, tears streaming down her face. “If this is real, I want to forget. Make me forget. You’re the architect, you built this place, you can make me forget.”

“And for what? So you can take too much LSD again, reignite your curiosity, return, and feel this anguish all over again?” The architect seemed on the verge of tears herself. “I wouldn’t do that to you Rainbow.”

Rainbow Dash climbed up onto the desk, glaring down at the gray pony as her wings took over and she began to hover. “Don’t fucking cry at me.” She raged, her forehooves tightening as she stopped being able to control her anger. “Don’t look at me like you fucking care.”

“Dash, please. Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. My reality is a lie.” She struck the other pony, growling as she 

* * *

Fluttershy sat alone, quietly in her bedroom, not doing anything illegal or mind-expanding, and certainly not questioning the number of ponies in her group of friends. It was four: yellow, purple, white, and pink. That’s what it had always been, and that’s what it always would be.


End file.
